Commercial painting in Atlanta
Electrostatic painting in Atlanta for metal you can't easily remove
Metal desks, filing cabinets, lockers and door frames get chipped and dated long before they wear out. Replacing them is expensive, and hauling them to a shop for powder coating takes them out of service for weeks.
We refinish metal on site using electrostatic spray equipment that charges the paint so it wraps around edges and backs of metal parts. Typical jobs include office furniture, lockers, hollow metal doors and frames, railings and elevator doors, usually done in 1 to 4 days with no hauling. Atlanta costs typically run $65 to $145 per locker, $145 to $265 per door frame. Call (470) 458-0461.
Electrostatic painting works by giving the paint a charge as it leaves the spray gun while the metal item is grounded. The charged droplets are pulled toward the metal, including around corners and onto back sides the gun isn't pointed at. That wrap gives a more even coat with less overspray than a regular sprayer, which matters a lot when the item is sitting in an occupied office or school hallway.
The real benefit is that things stay where they are. Filing cabinets, locker banks, elevator doors and door frames are refinished in place, usually overnight or over a weekend, and they're back in use as soon as the coating cures. Compared with replacing the furniture or shipping it out for powder coating, the savings are usually large. There's no shop trip at all.
It only works on conductive surfaces, so wood, plastic and laminate need other methods. Larger building projects that include electrostatic work alongside wall painting fall under our commercial painting service. On mixed jobs we usually coat the metal frames, lockers and furniture first, then brush or roll the walls and wood trim around them, so masking happens once and the whole space finishes on one schedule.
When to call
Signs metal in your building is a candidate for electrostatic refinishing
Chipped desk and cabinet edges
Metal desks, filing cabinets and shelving with chipped paint and rust at the edges still work fine and only need a new finish, not replacement.
Dented and scratched lockers
School and gym lockers take constant abuse. Scratched, graffitied or faded locker banks can be repaired, primed and refinished in place over a break.
Worn hollow metal door frames
Door frames in corridors and stairwells get scraped by carts and show bare steel at strike plates and hinges, which rusts in humid weather.
Outdated colors on metal
Beige or almond metal furniture and partitions date an office. Recoloring them to match a new palette costs far less than buying new pieces.
Scuffed elevator doors and cabs
Painted elevator doors and frames scuff from luggage and carts. Electrostatic refinishing restores them without removing doors or shutting the elevator for long.
Rusting railings and fences
Interior stair railings and exterior steel railings with surface rust can be cleaned, primed and coated where they stand, with no removal or welding.
Scope of work
What our electrostatic refinishing scope includes
- Testing the existing coating and metal so the primer and topcoat bond correctly
- Cleaning and degreasing every surface to remove hand oil, wax and residue
- Sanding or scuffing glossy finishes and treating rust down to sound metal
- Filling dents and gouges with metal-compatible filler where needed
- Masking locks, hinges, glass, labels and surrounding walls and floors
- Grounding each item and applying primer and topcoat with electrostatic spray equipment
- Color matching to your chosen palette or existing building standards
- Curing time planned so items are back in service by an agreed date
How the job runs
How on-site electrostatic painting is done
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| A1 | Survey and adhesion testWe count and inspect items, test the existing finish with a solvent wipe and adhesion tape, and check for rust, dents and previous coatings that could affect bonding. |
| A2 | Clean and degreaseEvery surface is washed with a degreaser to remove hand oil, cleaning residue and wax. Electrostatic paint won't bond to contamination, so this step is never skipped. |
| A3 | Scuff and repairGlossy finishes are scuff sanded, rust is removed to sound metal, and dents are filled. Bare spots are spot primed with a metal primer. Wax buildup gets a second wash. |
| A4 | Mask and groundLocks, hinges, glass and labels are masked. Surrounding walls and floors are covered, and each item is connected to a ground so the charged paint is drawn to it. |
| A5 | Spray coatsPrimer and topcoat are applied with electrostatic spray guns. The charge wraps paint around edges and backs, so fewer passes are needed and overspray stays low. |
| A6 | Cure and return to serviceItems cure for the time on the product label, masking comes off, and furniture or doors go back into use, usually the next business day. |
Atlanta conditions
Why Atlanta's climate matters for metal refinishing
Humidity is the main enemy of painted metal here. Hollow metal door frames in stairwells, metal railings in parking decks and lockers in older gyms all sit in damp air for much of the year, and any chip down to bare steel starts rusting within weeks in summer. That's why prep focuses on removing all rust and priming bare spots with a rust-inhibitive primer before the topcoat. We also check dew point on exterior and semi-exposed jobs, because coating cold metal on a humid morning traps moisture under the paint.
Many Atlanta office buildings and schools from the 1970s through the 1990s are full of sturdy steel furniture, partitions and lockers that are still structurally fine. Schools in places like Gwinnett County and office parks around the Perimeter often choose refinishing over replacement for that reason. Ventilation is part of the planning: we use low-odor waterborne or high-solids coatings indoors and run air movement during curing, especially in buildings where the HVAC is set back at night.
Where we do this work most
Built pages for neighborhoods and cities we cover, with ZIP codes.
Typical costs
Typical electrostatic painting costs in Atlanta
Electrostatic jobs are usually priced per item, with a minimum for the setup and grounding equipment. Prep is the big variable: rusty or heavily chipped pieces take longer than clean ones getting a color change. The ranges below are typical 2026 metro Atlanta figures. Most jobs carry a setup minimum of $385 to $645.
| Work | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Single locker, cleaned, scuffed and coated | $65 to $145 per locker |
| Metal desk or four-drawer filing cabinet | $135 to $285 per piece |
| Hollow metal door frame, one side | $145 to $265 per frame |
| Elevator doors and frame, one landing | $385 to $745 per landing |
Typical Atlanta ranges, not a quote. Your written estimate follows a free walkthrough. Compare other jobs on our painting price guide.
What moves the price
- Number of items and setup minimum
- Rust removal and dent repair
- Color change versus same-color refresh
- Masking around locks, glass and hardware
- Night or weekend work in occupied buildings
Coatings and equipment for electrostatic work
We use electrostatic spray systems that charge the coating at the gun tip, paired with grounding clamps on each item. Primers are metal-specific, such as Sherwin-Williams Pro Industrial Pro-Cryl or a rust-inhibitive alkyd, chosen after the adhesion test. Topcoats are usually a waterborne acrylic urethane or waterborne alkyd enamel in satin or semi-gloss, which give a hard, cleanable finish without strong odor. Rust is removed with wire brushes and sanding discs, dents are filled with metal-compatible filler, and Purdy brushes handle touch-up along masked edges.
Paints, primers and stains our painters work with every week, from Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore to PPG and Romabio.
Questions
Electrostatic painting questions from Atlanta homeowners
Is electrostatic paint as durable as powder coating?
Powder coating cured in an oven is harder, but it means removing items and shipping them to a shop. Electrostatic painting with a quality urethane or alkyd enamel gives a durable finish that handles normal office and school use well, and it's done in place. For heavy industrial wear we may suggest powder coating; for lockers, desks and frames, electrostatic usually makes more sense.
Do we need to empty the filing cabinets and lockers first?
Lockers should be emptied so doors can open and inside edges can be coated, and filing cabinets should ideally be emptied or at least locked with drawers shut. We don't need to move the furniture to another location, just far enough from walls to reach all sides. We'll provide a list of what to clear before the shift starts.
Can you change the color of metal office furniture?
Yes, recoloring is a common reason for electrostatic work. Going from beige to black, gray or a brand color usually needs a primer coat and one or two topcoats. We'll paint a sample piece first so you can check the color and sheen in your space. Mixed furniture from different eras can all be finished in one color to match.
Can electrostatic painting be used on wood or laminate?
No. The process needs a conductive surface that can be grounded, which means metal. Wood doors, laminate desktops and plastic parts are masked off or finished by conventional methods. For wood trim and doors in the same building, our trim and door painting work uses brushed or sprayed enamel instead.
How long before refinished items can be used again?
Most coatings we use are dry to the touch in a few hours and can be handled carefully the next morning. Full hardness takes several days, so we ask that lockers and desks be treated gently for the first week: no tape, magnets or heavy objects dragged across them. Elevator doors are usually back in service the next day.
Related work
Jobs that often go with this one
Commercial Painting
Offices, storefronts, industrial flex space and common areas painted after hours or in phases, with coatings chosen for traffic and cleaning.
Office Painting
Occupied offices painted on nights and weekends with zero-VOC paint, covered workstations and rooms back in use by the next morning.
Wrought Iron & Metal Railing Painting
Wrought iron and steel railings, gates and stair rails stripped of rust, primed with rust-inhibiting primer and finished in DTM enamel.
Church & School Painting
Sanctuaries, classrooms, daycares and fellowship halls painted around services and school calendars, with low-VOC, washable finishes.
Talk through your electrostatic painting job
Call any time. We will ask a few questions, set a walkthrough time and put the scope and price in writing.